New Delhi is one of Dhaka’s most important neighbours but the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tarique Rahman who is set to make his second official visit abroad after assuming office in February this year, is yet to make an official trip to India.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated on Tuesday that the Bangladesh Prime Minister has received two invites from India. The first one was for a bilateral visit and subsequently another invite was extended to him for the BRICS summit as Chair of BIMSTEC. Jaiswal added India has not yet heard from Bangladesh on the visit and there is no update on when Rahman will visit India. Once both sides agree on a suitable schedule, the visit will happen”. “There will be meetings on the sidelines and such meetings often come up at the last minute. That is how multi-lateral forums work. Sometimes you come out of a session and someone can say on that very day that I want to meet the Prime Minister. These things happen on any big summit. We want a good working relationship with India. I think a bilateral visit first is a better thing. You don’t do a multilateral visit first to the country you want to build a good working relationship with. I did not say we will not meet anyone at every multi-lateral visit. These are two distinct things,” Kobir added.
Addressing the possibility of Rahman visiting India, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Humaiun Kobir said, “The visit will take place when the timing is conducive and when discussions lead to a mutually acceptable timeframe. When asked about possible bilateral meetings, including one with US President Donald Trump, Kobir said that the main agenda of Rahman’s visit is to address the United States General Assembly. There are a lot of changes in the daily diary of world leaders”, Kobir said. Explaining why Rahman skipped the BRICS summit in New Delhi despite an invitation as Chair of the BIMSTEC, he said that Bangladesh wants to build a “new relationship” with India which should be done through bilateral meetings and not through a multilateral forum. “I said it and my answer was India specific. I said this about India. He described India-Bangladesh ties as a “working relationship” and said that Dhaka wants to “reset” it.
